190 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY. 



Number of men, . . . . . . . . . 50 



Capital invested, $1,200 



Production, 1907 : 



Bushels, . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 



Value, . . . $12,750 



Total area (acres) : 



Sand, . , . ...- 500 



Mud, 125 



Gravel, . '. 



Mussels and eel grass, . 25 



Total, . . . . . 650 



Productive area (acres) : 



Good clamming, . . . ,. ., 150 



Scattering clams, . .- ,. . 150 



Barren area possibly productive (acres), 325 



Waste barren area (acres), ........ 25 



Possible normal production, . . $120,000 



Gloucester. 



The far-celebrated deep sea fisheries of Gloucester overshadow her 

 humble shellfish industry; but within her tidal flats lie undeveloped 

 resources, which if properly brought out would form no inconsiderable 

 factor in her annual revenue. Even now her clam fishery attains con- 

 siderable proportions, though by no means what it once was, or what 

 it might be were suitable cultural methods employed. 



The main areas of clam-producing territory lie in the Annisquam 

 River and in the Essex River in West Gloucester. The grounds in the 

 Annisquam are the more productive. This river is some 4 miles long, 

 and is bordered for the greater part of this distance with tidal flats. Of 

 these the sand flats predominate, though there are large areas of mud 

 and extensive beds of mussels. On the extreme head of the river, known 

 as the Dumfudgeon region, dredging operations for the Gloucester 

 canal have somewhat impaired the flats, but as a whole the river seems 

 in every way suitable for the production of an abundant harvest of 

 clams. 



The flats of West Gloucester, including a portion of the Essex Spit, 

 are largely unproductive. The Spit is the only flat of any extent in this 

 region which is at present of real economic value; the remaining flats, 

 scattered along the south shore of the Essex River and its tributary 

 creeks, are for the most part practically barren. 



The total area of clam flats in Gloucester approximates 550 acres. Of 

 this, some 250 acres are sand, 200 mud, while there are about 100 acres 

 of mussels and eel grass, which cannot be considered at all adapted for 

 clam culture. Only a fraction of the whole, 75 acres, more or less, is 

 good clamming; a scant 100 acres produces scattering clams; 275 acres 



